Pete Carroll takes the blame for USC's loss, as well he should

FROM SEATTLE — This one's on Pete.

The USC players trudged away with shoulders hunched against a chilly wind and obscene screams, but it wasn't about them.

The Washington players and fans filled the field with twirling, bouncing, purple-stained glee, but it also wasn't about them.

This one's on Pete.

For several long minutes after USC's 16-13 loss to Washington on Saturday, Trojans Coach Pete Carroll stood at the edge of the Husky Stadium tunnel, staring ashen-faced back into the swarming mob as if peering into the smoking wreckage of a car he totaled.

Which he did. A luxury car. Smashed it to bits.

"It goes right to me," he said later.

Best call he made all day.

"I'm not doing a good enough job making points on how we win," he said.

Not nearly.

"It starts right with me and this is where it stops, right here," he said.

Preaching to the choir.

After another one of those avoidable upset losses that now threaten to overtake his sparkling resume like a giant mustard stain, Carroll's accountability was admirable.

Everything else he did -- or didn't do -- plain stunk.

The Trojans lost to a 21-point underdog after leading by 10 points after two possessions.

The Trojans lost to a team with a rookie head coach that had just finished losing 15 straight games.

The Trojans lost their focus, their common sense and their cool in a game that seemed to strip Carroll of even his suntan.

"It's amazing, just amazing," said Huskies linebacker Donald Butler.

Don't blame this on the fact that USC was playing without starting quarterback Matt Barkley, because it still out-gained Washington.

Don't blame this on a defense that was missing star Taylor Mays, because it still held Washington to barely 200 yards before its final drive.

Like the man said, blame it on Pete. It has been written here for several years that Carroll is the best coach in college football, but for several hours Saturday he was inexplicably out-coached by a former pupil, Steve Sarkisian, while allowing his team to be outplayed by a former national joke.

Just two weeks ago, Washington had the nation's worst losing streak. Today, that title belongs to the man who has at least one national-title costing egg laid per season in each of the last four years, from UCLA to Stanford to Oregon State to this.

This was bad. This was really bad.